Four Kurd Rebels Killed in Clashes with Turkish Soldiers

Turkish security forces have shot dead four Kurdish rebels who had crossed into southeastern Turkey from Syria, local officials said late on Thursday.

A firefight erupted when the rebels were discovered crossing across the Syrian border into the town of Alakamis in the Sirnak province late on Wednesday, the local governor's office said in a statement.

The two sides opened fire after the four refused to surrender, it said, adding that the men were high-ranking members of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).

The PKK, listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey and by much of the international community, took up arms in Kurdish-majority southeastern Turkey in 1984, sparking a conflict that has claimed some 45,000 lives.